Track structure.



e. rakumm.

' TRACK STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2!, I915.

Patented Nov. 30; 1915.

GEORGE P. KUNDA, OF CENTERVILLE, IOWA.

TRACK STRUCTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentgd NOV. 30, 1915,

Application filed June 21, 1915. Serial No. 35,362.

. tion, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings. v

My present invention relates to new and useful improvements in track structures and as its principal object aims to improve the construction of the rails at crossings and switches, in such manner that it will not be necessary to employ bolts or the like in connecting the meeting terminals of the rail sections. i Another object of the invention is to provide a novel arrangement of the'ties at the crossing or switch, .the ties being connected to each other in pairs by the rods.

The above, and other incidental objects of a similar nature, which will be hereinafter more specifically treated are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the .following specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the claim which is appended hereto and forms part of this application. r v

\Vith reference to the drawings, wherein there hasbeen illustrated the preferred embodiment of this invention, as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts, Figure l'is a'plan view; Fig; 2 is a detail perspective view of the preferred form of rail joint emthreaded the nuts 16.

ployed in connection with the trackStructure.

In the accompanying drawings, the numerals 10 and 11 designate generally the;

two rails of the main track and the numerals 12 and 13 designate the rails of the siding track. These rails "are mounted upon ii-18S,

indicated at 14.' As disclosed best in Fig. 1, the ties are, at the portion ofthe track whcreat the. siding runs into the crossing, arranged-inpairs, the individual ties of each pair beingconnected to each other by means of rods 15, onthe terminals .of which are Spacing blocks or struts, indicated at 17 are disposed between the ties for an obvious purpose. The rail 12 of the siding. is formed as an integral part of the section 18 of the main track rail 11, as best disclosed in Fig. 1.v The other rail 13 of the siding is formed as an integral part of the section 19 of the main track rail 11. Extending between the sections 18 and 19 of the main track railll, are two rail sections 20 and 21. The member 20 is connected to the member 18 by a scarf joint,

generally designated by the numeral 22.

Themember 21 is pivotally connected to the .member 20 and, therefore, constitutes a switchmg point. A similar switching point,

indicated at 23 ispivoted to the rail section 24;, which forms a part of the siding' rail 12.

A joint, generally designated by the numeral 25, connects the member 2&1 to the siding rails 12. This joint 25 is equivalent to the joint 22, which is shown in detail in Fig. 2, to which figure reference will now be had. AS shown in this figure the base portion 26 of therail section A is removed on one side of the web, producing the shoulder 27. The tread portion 28 is cut-away on the opposite side producing the shoulder 29. The-other rail section Bis provided with the parallel spaced plates 30 and 31, which are adapted to engage against the opposite faces of the web of the rail section A. "The lower edge of the plate 30is' spaced above the bottom face of the rail base, so that it may engage upon the upper face of the rail 7 base of thesection A. The upper edge of the plate 31, is beveled, as at 3250 thatit may flatly engage against the beveled lower face of the head of the rail section A. It

has been found that the above described rail joint, shown in Fig. 2, is particularly efficient in a rail structure of the present type and I, therefore, desire to employ it in preference to other types of rail joints.

In order that the switching points 21 and 23 may be held in relatively fixed relation to each other, yet niay'be'capable of slight I movement when a train is passing through the switch, I provide the rods 36 which are of relatively light steel and are capable of being longitudinally flexed, under the thrust of the passing train. These rods 36 are provided with the laterally offset studs 37, which pass through the members 21 and 23 and are pivotally' secured against withdrawal therefrom. l

The main rail 10 is made up adjacent to the switch by three sections'38, 39 and 10 which are connected to each other by means of joints 41 and 42, equivalent to the joints 22 and 25, which are as previously explained, illustrated in detail in F ig. 2L T Frr'm the foregoing description, it will now be observed that it is not necessary in the present invention to employ any bolts or equivalent fastening elements in properly connecting the terminalsof the rail sections of the different tracks and that the cost of the track structure is, therefore, materially reduced. It will also be noted that by connecting the ties in pairs, in the manner shown in Fig. 1 particularly, there isless liabilityof slippage of the ties either longitudinally or transversely, than in the ordinary track. In this connectiom it will be apparent that whereasin the ordinary track, if a' tie becomes loose or the foundation material beneath it is unduly crushedand permits the tie to be undermined, the tie may th'en slip transversely or longitudinally on the road bed. In the present invention, however, the loosening of one tie will'not result in tlmcons'equent movement of this tie for no single tie, of any of the pairs of ties can move unlessit carries With it the other tie. a In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form of this invention illustrated in the drawings andreferred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment is the most efficient and'practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of this device will necessarily vary,

it is desirable to emphasize the fact that various minorchanges in the details of eon struction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is In a rail joint, a pair of meeting rail ends, the first of said rail. ends having its base portion. removed on one side of the web and having its tread portion removed on the opposite side of the Web, the other of said rail terminals being provided with parallel spaced plates adapted to engage against opposite faces of the web of the first rail end, the lower edge of one of said plates being adapted to seat upon the base of the first.

rail terminal, and to have its upper edge contiguous with the treadsurface of the first rail, the other plate being beveled to engage against the lower face of the tread of the.

first rail, the base of the second rail and being continuous along the lower edge of the second mentioned plate member and being adapted to form a continuation of the rail base of the first rail terminal.

In testimony whereof hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE P. KUNDA. Witnesses: W. BERNsTEIN, L. BERNSTEIN. 

